to generalize
/ˈdʒɛnɝəˌɫaɪz/
verbto draw a general conclusion based on specific cases that can be irrelevant to other situations
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Examples
1. Can you generalize even dimensional boards?
2. can we generalize this model even further?
3. In other words, your brain generalizes the experience.
4. Now we can generalize the idea.
5. An aware person generalizes.
given that
/ɡˈɪvən ðˈæt/
conjunctionused to express that one is considering a particular fact before sharing one's opinion or making a judgment
Examples
hair-splitting
/hˈɛɹsplˈɪɾɪŋ/
nounthe act of making petty distinctions or arguing about insignificant details and differences
Examples
hearing
/ˈhiɹɪŋ/
nounan opportunity to express one's opinions or ideas
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Examples
1. No evidence exists of an early device to enhance hearing, but it probably did exist.
2. So they organized hearings.
3. They hold hearings.
4. The city council has hearings.
5. Hearing is usually impaired.
high ground
/hˈaɪ ɡɹˈaʊnd/
nounthe most advantageous position in an argument or discussion that grants one moral or ethical superiority
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Examples
1. The broader group of these little men generally live on high ground whether it be on the tops of cliffs, hills, or sand dunes.
2. Does AMD have the high ground?
3. They also had the high ground in the buildings of the village.
4. Although the falls aren't very tall, the bears hold the high ground.
5. Head to high ground.
in effect
/ɪn ɪfˈɛkt/
adverbused to indicate that a rule or law is being operated
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Examples
1. So in effect, the Sunflower Movement protesters blocked further economic integration with mainland China.
2. A red-flag fire danger warning is in effect.
3. A flood warning is in effect.
4. After this, the barbarian generals, in effect, take charge.
5. This stuff remains in effect.
in the first place
/ɪnðə fˈɜːstplˌeɪs/
phraseused to talk about why something was or was not done from the beginning
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Examples
1. The biggest problem is diagnosing the disorder in the first place.
2. Just put quiet fans in the first place.
3. Further justifying the questions around the contract in the first place.
4. His name, in the first place, means "king of righteousness."
5. The first one does a great value in the first place.
to invalidate
/ˌɪnˈvæɫɪˌdeɪt/
verbto make or prove an idea, theory, argument, etc. unsound or erroneous
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Examples
1. In my opinion, 100 degree low temperatures basically invalidate a pro machine for these kinds of professional workloads.
2. So gaps don't invalidate candles.
3. The Supreme Court invalidated those elections.
4. Although that logic would kind of invalidate the whole restaurant idea.
5. Essentially this child will automatically, just through their existence, invalidate that parent's identity.
invalidation
/ˌɪnˌvæɫəˈdeɪʃən/
nounthe act of making or proving a belief, idea, argument, etc. wrong
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Examples
1. this invalidation of your actual values and subsequent true priorities is what caused you to get out of touch with your actual values to begin with.
2. And if it is an unconscious parent, the parent then reacts defensively to this invalidation.
3. The foundation of parallel perceptual realities is emotional invalidation.
4. As hard as it may sound, do not take this as an invalidation of the pain.
5. Invalidation ends up doing the exact thing we don't want.
to invoke
/ˌɪnˈvoʊk/
verbto mention someone or something of prominence as a support or reason for an argument or action
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Examples
1. The studied composition in Vermeer's paintings invokes a balanced harmony.
2. Your ancestor may invoke any number of times per turn.
3. And people invoke clouds.
4. Both parties invoke "one nation under God."
5. Beaches like the Rockaways invoke a memory of a bygone era of wooden boardwalks and rollercoasters.
keystone
/ˈkiˌstoʊn/
nounthe most significant part of an argument, belief, or plan on which everything else depends
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Examples
1. The regulatory process under the Bush administration for base Keystone went very easily.
2. Not having any keystone adjustment, definitely an oversight
3. Cleveland's keystone, Daugherty, made his second straight appearance.
4. The first trait is a keystone of sorts.
5. The Nebula projector automatically corrects the vertical keystone.
to labor the point
/lˈeɪbɚ ðə pˈɔɪnt/
phraseto describe or stress something excessively when it is already understood
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1. You already know if it's a feature you want or not, so I'm not gonna labor the point too much other than to say that it's still a bit of a bummer.
to lay out
/lˈeɪ ˈaʊt/
verbto describe something such as a plan or concept clearly and in detail
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Examples
1. The contract also lays out the bond agent's terms for the defendant's release.
2. The contract laid out the fee structure for the underlying portfolio funds.
3. Lay out that puff pastry.
4. So, strawberries laid out
5. The first step is laying out the post positions.
to hold water
/hˈoʊld wˈɔːɾɚ/
phrase(of an argument, theory, etc.) to be believable or supported by evidence
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Examples
1. So it’s worth pointing out that, just as personal liberty arguments don’t hold water when thinking about fetuses, arguments for pain avoidance are useless when thinking about some cases of euthanasia.
2. No they can hold water up in their gills, so they can stay out of water for a couple of hours.
3. We need some insight from the police from that investigation to see if that theory holds water There really do have to be people out there that remember Ruth.
4. His alibi didn't hold water and he admitted to forging two suicide notes.
5. -A good way to know if an idea or a story that you've read about holds water, is that a majority of trusted sources agree on it.
pitch
/ˈpɪtʃ/
nounspeeches or arguments used to persuade someone to do something or to accept an idea
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Examples
1. After five innings pitched: no earned runs, one hit, no walks, seven strikeouts.
2. Pitched a great tent.
3. So pitch goes down.
4. In American English, pitch plays a significant role.
5. Just pitched an idea.
to play one's ace
/plˈeɪ wˈʌnz ˈeɪs/
phraseto use one's best resource and do something clever and unexpected that gives one an advantage over others
Examples
to plead
/ˈpɫid/
verbto state something as an excuse
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Examples
1. Wright's mother pleaded for calm.
2. I plead the cause and rights of white freemen.
3. Both boys pleaded guilty to their charges.
4. Rawls also pleaded guilty to the same offense.
5. Plead the shot.
point
/ˈpɔɪnt/
nounthe most important thing that is said or done which highlights the purpose of something
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Examples
1. After a certain point, the added weight no longer yields additional range.
2. You can get to this point if you try and push through your fears and inhibitions and force the social interactions.
3. Yes, you guys get points.
4. - Point your toes.
5. Which one pointed first?
to point
/ˈpɔɪnt/
verbto suggest that something is the case
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Examples
1. After a certain point, the added weight no longer yields additional range.
2. You can get to this point if you try and push through your fears and inhibitions and force the social interactions.
3. Yes, you guys get points.
4. - Point your toes.
5. Which one pointed first?
polemic
/pəˈɫɛmɪk/
nouna strong verbal or written statement of opinion, especially one that refutes or attacks a specific opinion
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Examples
1. So his polemical methods would certainly be influenced by the most potent polemic that was ever launched in the German language.
2. Now, we saw when we read Genesis 1, that there was something going on there, there's a polemic going on.
3. At some point there was a desire to separate, and in that process of identity formation, a polemic began to develop that created Yahweh in a distinct way, differentiated from the Canaanite deities.
4. It was a polemic against polytheism and the pagan worldview.
5. Excuse my polemic.
polemics
/poʊˈɫɛmɪks/
nounthe art of arguing for or against someone or something, such as a particular idea or opinion
Examples
polemical
/pəˈɫɛməkəɫ/
adjectiveof or relating to strong arguments meant to criticize or defend a particular opinion, person, idea, etc.
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Examples
1. This is not a polemical book at all.
2. So that view of Machiavelli's became, of course, an extremely polemical one.
3. Things have become very polemical.
4. In effect, Dante has a radically polemical view of the utopian spirit.
5. Prof: Okay, now that passage is actually quite polemical the way it's written.
to posit
/ˈpɑzət/
verbto suggest or accept something as true so that one can use that as the base for an argument
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Examples
1. I posit an ecological circumstance.
2. We're simply positing the existence of two distinct orientations, two divergent worldviews.
3. And this tool posits four distinct types of discourses, four distinct types of pluralist discourses.
4. And then another conspiracy theory people have posited centers around Kala herself.
5. The third theory posits a military test.
premise
/ˈpɹɛmɪs/
nouna theory or statement that acts as the foundation of an argument
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Examples
1. You take your opponent, your target's premise.
2. Flip the premise.
3. Premise two-- all pogo sticks are single-track vehicles.
4. Here's my premise.
5. The premise was simple.
to press / hammer sth home
/pɹˈɛs hˈæmɚ ˌɛstˌiːˈeɪtʃ hˈoʊm/
phraseto forcefully make a point in an argument or discussion to ensure that there are no misunderstandings
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Examples
1. But there was a lot of discoveries of early fossil remains around that time that pressed it home.
presupposition
/ˌpɹisəpəˈzɪʃən/
nounsomething that one perceives to be true, even though it remains to be proved, especially at the beginning of an argument
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Examples
1. It's a background presupposition.
2. See if you can spot the hidden presupposition here.
3. The presupposition is that Jordan's followers are abusing people.
4. God's just providence and a moral world order, are presuppositions that it just doesn't seem to question.
5. Then finally, one of the last major presuppositions that relates to the historical consciousness I talked about: the idea that there's a gap between the world of the Bible and our world.
prong
/ˈpɹɔŋ/
nouneach separate part of an argument, plan, etc.
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Examples
1. Pay for prongs!
2. The prongs are essentially, two round, parallel prongs.
3. And the prongs go into the cork.
4. Unconscionability doctrine has two prongs under US contract law.
5. This third prong is the ground.
proof
/ˈpɹuf/
nounthe act of testing the truth of something
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Examples
1. Big bang cosmologists wanted proof though.
2. Need proof?
3. Want proof?
4. Want proof?
5. Need proof?
to prove
/ˈpɹuv/
verbto show that something is true through the use of evidence or facts
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Examples
1. A young man, a family curse, and an unholy experiment prove a dangerous combination for a small town in Arizona.
2. Proves my point!
3. Prove the case.
4. Science normally proves no causal relation.
5. This unusual TV screen proves that fact better than anything.
to put it to sb
/pˌʊt ɪt tə sˈʌmwʌn ðˈæt/
phraseto introduce a plan or suggestion to a group of individuals so that they decide whether to accept it or not
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Examples
1. But a lot of Americans want to put it to China and think that we run the show and all the rest, which is a very dangerous way of thinking, actually.
2. Autonomous control technology has matured to a stage where we can put it to goos use.
3. The greyhounds are REALLY putting it to THROCKMORTON.
4. Well, let me put it to you this way.
5. So I put it to you, that you told these builders, and the only way you knew is 'cause you're the murderer. -